This invention relates to orthopedic cervical support collars.
Orthopedic cervical support collars are required for use by people suffering from cervical conditions such as neck injuries, strained necks, sore neck muscles, arthritic neck joints, bone spur pains, etc. They also can be used to advantage by the elderly and handicapped as well as by athletes with neck conditions, and by individuals who wish to insure against re-injuring their necks after a previous injury. Still further, they are useful in their provision of a neck support for individuals who drive automobiles great distances and as a result suffer from neck aches.
Commercially available prior art cervical support collars conventionally are manufactured from styrofoam, polyfoam or foamed rubber. Even though padded they are uncomfortable to the wearer since they do not conform in all respects to the curvature of the body and are stiff and unyielding. They also are abrasive, irritating and frustrating to wear. Additionally, they cause the wearer to become hot and sweaty, with resulting fouling of the collar, which is not adaptable for machine washing and drying.
As a consequence, users of the prior art collars are prone to discard them prematurely even though they still require the comfort, support and protection which a properly designed cervical support collar could provide.
It is the general purpose of the present invention to provide an orthopedic cervical support collar which overcomes the above described problems associated with the prior art collars.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by the provision of an orthopedic cervical support collar which, broadly considered, comprises a piece of thick, absorbent cloth material such as cloth toweling, folded lengthwise to form an elongated, multi-ply pad having a length sufficient to encircle the neck and provide an overlap. Stitching through the plies, or other ply interengaging means, maintains the piece in flat, pad-forming condition. Releasable fastening means such as Velcro fasteners mounted on the pad in the area of the overlap make possible releasing and fastening together the overlapped pad ends when mounting the pad collar-wise on the neck of the wearer.
The foregoing support collar may be fashioned by folding a rectangular piece of cloth material longitudinally inwardly from each side to substantially the longitudinal center line, and then again along the longitudinal center line to form a four-ply pad. The plies then are fastened together by application of suitable interengaging means, preferably by stitching them together in a pattern predetermined to provide stiffened, supportive pad margins. "Velcro" or other suitable fasteners are mounted on the pad, in the area of the overlap, to provide adjustable release means for fastening the pad collar-wise on the user's neck.